Art Teacher Helps Kids Discover Joy of Creating

If Connie Larson were a painting, she probably would be a Rousseau: brightly colored and fanciful. Those words describe well the high-energy activist who is often seen tearing around town spreading the gospel of art education.

“Art liberates kids,” said Larson, who could be speaking about her own years-long experience searching for creative fulfillment. “Luckily, I found my outlet, and I hope I’ve helped kids find an avenue where they can experience the joy of creating.”

Just ask any of the adults and children whose lives she’s touched through her highly regarded school art program, and you’ll see that she has met that goal.

“[Connie’s] program has widened the kids’ horizons for art,” said Helene Korn, a Dixie Canyon Avenue School teacher. “They eat it up.”

What 47-year-old Larson dishes out is an art history-based program geared to elementary-school-age children, who learn first about new artists and techniques, then try their own hands at drawing and painting.

“I like that I get to express my feelings in art,” 8-year-old Kelsey Rubenstein said, as art docent coordinator Avery Walsh held up two contrasting Impressionist paintings for the third-graders to critique.

Walsh, whose child attends Dixie Canyon, jumped on Larson’s docent bandwagon a year ago. In class, she pointed out the similarities and differences in the paintings, then gave the young artists some tips as they patiently waited for their water-based paints to be distributed.

“Connie’s energy has spilled over to a new group of parents, and now about 35 of us volunteer every week,” Walsh said. “We want the kids to get exposed to art and artists.”

Larson was inspired to bring art appreciation to children eight years ago, after watching her son’s Dixie Canyon teacher, Harriet Blye, incorporate art into many facets of the second-grade curriculum.

The pair teamed up to produce the volunteer-based children’s art program that has spread to Riverside Drive and Sherman Oaks Elementary schools.

“Kids need to exercise the right side of their brains, too,” Larson said. “It can’t be all academics; they need art for balance.”

The Pennsylvania native, who also serves as president of the Northridge-based Valley Institute of Visual Art--or VIVA--was first recognized as an artist of some merit when she served as an assistant to the undersecretary of agriculture in Washington after her high school graduation.

The young artist hung her paintings on the office wall behind her desk and they quickly sold, but her art career stalled.

After her 1972 move to California, Larson took art workshops and eventually joined the Valley Watercolor Society, for which she served as president for two years. The society, which has long supported school arts programs, joined forces with three other local arts groups to found VIVA, which provides gallery space for local artists.

“Connie’s such a dynamo,” said fellow Watercolor Society member Marshall Turner. “She takes responsibility and gets the job done; she makes things work.”

In addition to consulting with local educators about docent-led arts programs, Larson teaches Dixie Canyon’s Gifted and Talented Education students, and also offers private art lessons.

“Kids learn that the process is just as important as the result,” Larson said. “It’s how you feel while you do it that counts.”

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